Latest Resources
23 October 2013
Africa bullied to grow defective BT Maize: the failure of Monsanto’s M810 maize in South Af...
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has released a new report ‘Africa bullied to grow defective Bt Maize: the failure of Monsanto’s MON810 maize in South Africa,’ showing how Monsanto’s GM maize which utterly failed in SA, is now being foisted on the rest of the continent, through ‘sleight of hand.’ Read here.
27 November 2012
Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws: death knell for African seed systems
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has released its new report titled, ‘Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws: a recipe for disaster- Players, motives and dynamics. The report shows how African governments are being co-opted into harmonising seed laws relating to border control measures, phytosanitary control, variety release systems, certification standards and intellectual property rights, to […]
23 November 2012
Harmonisation of Africa’s seeds laws: a recipe for disaster
The core of the paper is focused on the pressures being exerted on African governments to adopt the 1991 Act of the International Union for the Protection of Plant Varieties (UPOV), particularly through regional harmonisation of plant variety protection (PVP) policies and laws. We also discuss the adverse impacts PVP laws will have on the […]
8 October 2012
Glyphosate in SA: Risky pesticide at large and unregulated in our soil and water
The research shows that although glyphosate (a weed killer) is ubiquitous throughout South African agriculture, it poses many environmental risks and yet there is precious little research done to monitor and manage its environmental impacts. Read more here.
15 September 2012
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA): laying the groundwork for the commercialisation...
We consider AGRA’s broad philosophy and structure, focusing on AGRA’s own views or those of its consultants, before turning to a more detailed consideration of its specific work in the Programme for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS) and, in slightly less detail, its Soil Health Programme (SHP). These programmes are inseparable because seed and soil fertility […]
16 May 2012
South Africa’s Seed Systems: Challenges for food sovereignty
The African Centre for Biosafety and Trust for Community Outreach and Education, have the pleasure of sharing with you, our new study, which provides an overview of the structure of the seed system in South Africa, the types of seed in use and their pros and cons, the legislative and policy environment, and the role […]
15 May 2012
Big Business Drives SA’s Biofuels Programme
In late February 2012 leading figures from the fossil fuel industry met in Pretoria to forge ahead with the government’s highly controversial plans for an SA biofuels industry. The catalyst for this meeting was the publication by the government last September of draft regulations for the mandatory blending of biofuels in the nation’s fuel supply. […]
9 May 2011
Critique of SANBI’s Studies on Monsanto’s MON 810
During early in 2011, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) published a report titled, Monitoring the Environmental Impacts of GM Maize in South Africa. The report was a culmination of a study by the Environmental Biosafety Cooperation Project (EBCP) aimed at developing a framework for monitoring of insect resistant maize, Mon810, belonging to Monsanto. […]
8 September 2010
The dirty politics of the global grain trade – GM maize farmers face ruin in SA
Recently, the South African press reported on the possible bankruptcy faced by maize farmers. The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has today released a new report titled “The dirty politics of the global grain trade – GM maize farmers face ruin in SA” which provides an analysis of why South Africa’s record 13 million ton […]
3 September 2010
EIA regulations and GMOs in South Africa
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has done considerable work with regard to the need for environmental impact assessments of GMOs and the limitations of current legislation. This work can be found on the ACB’s website. We have perused the new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations, regulating procedures and criteria for conducting EIAs as set […]